The present invention is related to digital camera systems and more particularly to digital surveillance camera systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,858 describes a camera system which includes a plurality of single lens cameras positioned on the faces of a cube. The single lens cameras simultaneously capture images that can be seamed into a panoramic image. One can then select a view window into the panorama and display a portion of the panorama on a monitor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,683 describes a system for linking a plurality of images into a panoramic movie. A panoramic movie sequentially displays a view window into a series of panoramic images. With a xe2x80x9cregular moviexe2x80x9d the image which is presented to a viewer is fixed. With a panoramic movie, a viewer can select a particular direction of view and a view window showing that direction of view will be presented to the viewer.
Co-pending application Ser. No. 10/136,659 shows a camera system which includes a plurality of wide angle single view cameras which capture a wide angle view of a theater of operations and a moveable high resolution single lens camera which captures a selected area in the theater under surveillance.
The present invention provides a surveillance system that includes a number of camera subsystems. Each camera subsystem includes a number of single lens cameras pointing in different directions which simultaneously capture images. The captured images together cover some portion of the entire scene.
In general, the term facility is used to describe the entire area that is covered by the entire surveillance system. A facility covered by a surveillance system could, for example, be an airport terminal, it could be an entire shopping mall, it could be a large office building, etc. The term theater is used to describe the area covered by a particular camera subsystem, the term region is used to describe the area captured a particular single view camera, and the term display area is used to describe the portion of a theater displayed to an operator.
Each camera subsystem covers a particular theater of interest. Each single lens camera captures an image of a particular region in a particular theater. The system includes multiple camera subsystems located at different positions in a facility. The theaters covered by the subsystems have overlapping areas so that a person or object moving between theaters is continuously under surveillance. The camera subsystems are preferably located so that they cover entrance and exit points to both the facility and to parts of the facility.
The images captured by all the camera subsystems are made available to a central computer system. An operator can select a particular display area for viewing at a particular time. The area selected for display by an operator can be located in a region covered by one single lens camera, in one camera subsystem or it can be an area which has parts of regions covered by different single lens cameras which are part of a particular camera subsystem.
When an object of interest is identified, the system can follow the object as it moves between theaters in a facility. When an object is being followed, the system can provide a view of the object as it transitions between regions covered different single lens cameras in a particular camera subsystem and as it transitions between theaters covered by different camera subsystems.
All images captured by all the cameras are stored in a central data bank and one or more operator terminals are connected to the data bank for viewing images captured by the cameras. A moving object can be tracked as it moves forward in time or the history of an object can be shown. That is, the system can provide a series of images in real time as they are captured showing how an object is moving through a facility. The system can also show the history of an object""s prior motion. That is, an object can be viewed by tracking the object backward in time through the stored images.